Apparently, all of us took McCoy's shadily detailed "before camp party" invite out of context. So, he released a new set of rules Sunday night: Everyone is invited (except Hulk Hogan). Alcohol will not be served, just a smoothie bar. And you don't have to sign a confidentiality agreement. Huge.

Shady wrote this on Instagram:

Since the media and Internet took my before camp party outta context , I had to switch up my party strategy .
So tonight I'll be inviting everyone to my back to business party . Featuring DJ @DonaldTrump on the 1's and 2's . Special invited guests @RexRyan , @chipKelly ,@Rogergodell , my man Barack .oprah, Carli Llyod , and even that terrible waiter with the awful service from the burger joint is invited. Don't bring your Id because there won't be any alcohol anyway.
Open smoothie bar all night tho . Don't worry bout the confidentiality agreement. No only are ladies invited but everyone is invited , except hulk hogan he can't come . Maybe even @meekmill and @drake will hit the stage together . Turn up time party time !!!!

It’s believed that Wilson, whose agent has in recent years has exclusively represented baseball players, wants a significant portion of the contract to be fully guaranteed. Because the NFL requires all future fully-guaranteed payments to be funded at the initiation of the deal by putting the money into escrow, the Seahawks are expected to push back.

Not because owner Paul Allen can’t afford to set the money aside. He definitely can. But the thinking is that he doesn’t want to, either because he disagrees with the funding concept or because the league wants teams to resist making greater percentages of player contracts fully guaranteed.

Horn: What ESPN plans to do in 90-minute Cowboys training camp special

Coming to a TV set near you on Aug. 4, a Tuesday, will be a live 90-minute special from the Cowboys’ Oxnard, Calif., training camp.

The idea is to take viewers through an afternoon practice with Kenny Mayne, Jon Gruden and Darren Woodson as tour guides.

This will be ESPN’s second such foray into training camp. Last summer the concept debuted with the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. If you think the New England Patriots, the Seahawks’ successors as kings of the hill, would be the logical choice for this summer, you haven’t been paying attention.

So when ESPN producer Jay Rothman decided on an encore performance of his inside training camp experiment, he went directly to a team with “meat on the bone” that doesn’t mind offering a taste. The Cowboys provide the perfect ingredients, including an owner who likes cameras and a magnet that draws eyeballs.

In an interview this week, Rothman said he approached the receptive Cowboys at the Super Bowl and got the final approval last month.

“Jerry Jones is terrific, he gets it,” said Rothman, whose main role is producing Monday Night Football. “And there’s no secret that with the Cowboys, the ratings are big.”

The idea for the training camp series popped into Rothman’s head while he watched an ESPN special that focused on Boston Red Sox batting practice soon after the start of the 2014 season.

If someone handed you $108 million, you’d probably think you were set for life. But it’s not that simple for some people.

Antoine Walker is perhaps better known for blowing through his $108 million earnings over his 12-year NBA career - most of which was spent with the Boston Celtics - than for his accomplishments on the basketball court. And Walker explained to CNN Money just how that happened.

“I created a very expensive lifestyle,” he said, per ProBasketballTalk. “That’s how you lose your wealth real bad at the beginning.”

But it wasn’t just cars and homes for himself that depleted his savings. Walker also estimates that he helped at least 30 people get themselves in “better situations” without expecting any repayment.

“I gave them whatever they wanted and spoiled them,” Walker said. “You can’t do that. It ended up being an open ATM throughout my career.”

Walker also had a gambling problem, but he said that wasn’t what ultimately finished off his millions. The former forward says it was the collapse of his Chicago real estate firm, Walker Ventures, during the latest recession that left him for broke.

“We got caught in the recession,” Walker said. “We had a ton of undeveloped real estate. It went bad. The banks wanted their money back.”

Walker announced in 2013 that he’s debt-free and now works with other young athletes to help them avoid a similar fate to his.

You want Price? Better send Tigers MLB-ready starter in return

The Tigers might be willing to grant a potential trade partner a two-day window to work out a new contract with David Price.

As the baseball industry readies for the possibility that Detroit Tigers ace David Price will become available on the trade market — which could occur as early as Sunday or Monday — here are two key details to remember:

• The Tigers aren't necessarily opposed to granting a 48-hour window during which the acquiring team could negotiate a possible contract extension with Price, a free agent after this season. While such windows are rare in Major League Baseball trades, a high-ranking Tigers official said the team has no policy against them. (The added years of control could increase the caliber of players the Tigers receive in return.)

• Sources say the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs have interest in Price. To obtain the left-hander, a team almost certainly would need to surrender a pitcher who fits into the Tigers' 2016 rotation.

Juan Uribe has alot to move to NYC

Sometimes you just have to let people know how much work you’ve put in, even if it means using a little photographic evidence. And very early Sunday morning, LSU sophomore running back Leonard Fournette wanted to do just that by posting a picture on Instagram of him standing over Florida’s standout cornerback and best defensive player Vernon Hargreaves III, who appears to be lying limp on the ground.

The Tigers won last year’s matchup in Gainesville, 30-27, after Fournette carried the ball 27 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns. So just call it extra motivation for this season’s October 17 meeting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Fournette rushed for 1,034 yards and 10 touchdowns as a freshman in 2014, and Hargreaves is thought to be one of the best defensive backs in the country. This should be fun to watch.

Confidential 7/10

Here is a look at my confidential for Friday July 10th. Enjoy and remember if you have a story for the confidential email me at matt@680thefan.com or on Twitter @realmattlanta.

Atlanta Hawks add Glenn Robinson III to summer league roster

Glenn Robinson III was added to the Hawks’ entry in the Las Vegas Summer League on Thursday.

Robinson, the 6-foot-7 small forward, played last season for the Timberwolves and 76ers. He was not extended a qualifying offer by the 76ers on July 1 and became an unrestricted free agent. In 35 NBA games, Robinson averaged 2.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 7.5 minutes.

Robinson was due to arrive in Las Vegas Thursday. It is unclear if he will play in the Hawks’ opening game Friday.

Robinson was a second-round pick of the Timberwolves (No. 40 overall) last year by the Timberwolves out of the University of Michigan. He was waived by the Timberwolves on March 5 after appearing in 25 games. Two days later, he was claimed by the 76ers.

Robinson is the son of former NBA player Glenn Robinson.

The Hawks play the Nuggets at 8 p.m. Eastern Friday. All 67 games in the Las Vegas Summer League will be aired on NBA TV.

It’s not as splashy as signing Jordan, but Pachulia is no slouch. The 31-year-old center will be entering his 13th season in the NBA this fall. He averaged 8.3 points and 6.8 rebounds in 73 games (45 starts) for Milwaukee last season.

Pachulia’s best season came back in 2006-07 when he put up 12.2 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Atlanta Hawks.

Dallas takes on all of Pachulia’s $5.3 expiring contract for the upcoming season. Though, Milwaukee doesn’t save any money under the cap because it made its free agent signings official prior to trading Pachulia. The big man was made available after Milwaukee signed Greg Monroe away from the Detroit Pistons in free agency.

Once the Rams took tackle Isaiah Battle in the fifth round, the mock supplemental drafts were all busted, and the drama was over.

And so was, as it turns out, the supplemental draft.

The league announced that the remaining two rounds of the annual dispersal of players not eligible for the regular draft has ended, with no other players chosen.

That means the other six players who were in the pool (West Georgia defensive end Darrius Caldwell, West Georgia defensive tackle Dalvon Stuckey, Houston defensive end Eric Eiland, UConn tight end Sean McQuillan, Kansas defensive back Kevin Short and North Carolina Central wide receiver/kick returner Adrian Wilkins.) are eligible to be signed by any team as a free agent.

Whether they will or not remains to be seen, but no one was willing to fork over a 2016 choice to take a look now.

Rob Gronkowski details his naked Slip 'N Slide antics in new book

Rob Gronkowski and his family have been partying for many years.

If the excerpts from “It’s Good to be Gronk,” an upcoming book from Rob Gronkowski (co-written by Jason Rosenhaus) are representative of what is contained in its 224 pages, fans are in for a real treat. Pages culled from the tome by the Boston Globe’s Gayle Fee for a column published Thursday establishes that the New England Patriots tight end doesn’t hold anything back as he chronicles his life both on and off the football field.

Would anyone be surprised to learn that while in college Rob Gronkowskiset up a homemade Slip 'N Slide designed to have people's clothes fall off?

"We would invite all the hot athletic and sorority girls over then take dishwashing liquid and squirt it all over the floor to get it slippery. We would then squirt it all over ourselves to get lubed up then throw water all over the place. The name of the game was to make it from door to door sliding on your chest."

Naturally, considering the conditions, the guys would strip down to their underwear and the girls to their undies and bras.

"Somebody was always naked and the girls loved it when our underwear slid off," he wrote.

Club G was also equipped with a hot tub and the price of admission, for the ladies, was to throw their bra or bikini top up into a nearby tree.

"When my mom visited, she saw all the bras in the trees and was (expletive)."

Gronk also defends his notable partying ways in the autobiography:

"I'm no Boy Scout. I'm a Gronk. ... Nobody, and I mean nobody parties like my crew, Party Rockers. ... We don't do drugs, that's for people who don't know how to party straight. We don't hurt people or look for any trouble. All we do is get wild, dance like madmen and have a very fun time."

Because perhaps the best story to emerge from the excerpts culled by Fee is the one about how Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was neither impressed nor worried about Gronkowski’s hard-partying ways.

During a chat with the boss, Gronkowski reported that he told Belichick that the “fun stuff makes me grind harder, Coach!”

Belichick apparently reacted to Gronk’s statement in a manner that is as Belichickian as it gets.

“He shook his head and walked away and said, ‘Whatever works for you …’” Gronkowski revealed.

Vlade Divac on George Karl and DeMarcus Cousins: 'It's not pretty'

As the Sacramento Kings continue to build on a good offseason with smart signings and a quality draft, they're starting to turn their attention to the elephant in the room. How do you solve the George Karl-DeMarcus Cousins situation that's been boiling since Cousins was nearly traded before the draft?

Kings President of Basketball Operations Vlade Divac spoke with Jim Rome Monday and was brutally honest. Instead of saying reports were overblown or that everything was fine, Divac admitted that the entire situation is going to take a lot of repair.

.“I will be honest with you, I think it's not pretty right now,” Divac said of the two. “I'm focused on bringing a better team this year, and I think I did a pretty good job in this free agency, and now I will be focused on the two of them. I think they should think about how they can do the best for this team, and I hope everything goes well.”

Divac believes he can build a championship roster around his talented 24-year old center, despite external doubt.

“I really believe in DeMarcus, I think he's our franchise guy,” said Divac. “I came here after 10 years, I had a chance to win the championship here with the Sacramento Kings, it didn't happen, I am coming back to do that with DeMarcus.”Divac expects Karl and Cousins to be in Sacramento for the start of the 2015-16 Season, and made it clear his head coach doesn't have the power to trade Cousins.

“A lot of rumors around the country talking about ‘he's not going to play for coach', ‘coach wants to trade him'; it's not going to happen,” said Divac. “If somebody is going to make a decision, I'm going to make the decision. So I want to keep them both here for now. DeMarcus is definitely our guy that we want to build a team around.”

DeAndre Jordan re-signs with @LAClippers 66.4% career shooting percentage is the best in NBA history (min 1000 att)

KFC's Fried Chicken Crust Pizza Is Very Real, Very Unnecessary

It's called the KFChizza.

KFC appears to be determined to take fried chicken to places it has never been (nor probably should go), especially in the Philippines. The chain is famous for its Double Down sandwich which features buns made from fried chicken patties. The patties were then transformed into a hot dog bun for the Filipino market earlier this year.

Now, the chain is selling theKFChizza, or a pizza that features fried chicken for the crust, in locations across the Philippines. A slab of fried chicken is covered in pizza sauce, cheese, and other toppings like pineapple and green peppers and is then baked.

The Giants’ team bus left Dodger Stadium without Bochy, forcing him to call a cab for a ride back to L.A. Live, about a 10-minute drive. However, Bochy reportedly waited more than 35 minutes for the cab to arrive, making matters worse.

“The bus left me,” [Bochy] said Saturday, before the second game of the rivalry series. “I thought it was like, ‘Leave no troops behind.'”

[…]

“And people think I have a glamorous job,” Bochy joked. “And then I’m standing there outside the ballpark.”

Shortstop Brandon Crawford saw Bochy standing outside of Dodger Stadium and offered him a ride, but the manager turned him down as Crawford wasn’t staying at L.A. Live.

Dwyane Wade’s Father Wearing A Cavaliers Shirt

Things are already getting interesting in the NBA this offseason. Already we have seen what could have been a meeting between Kevin Love and Phil Jackson, now we have Dwyane Wade’s father in a Cavaliers shirt preaching at church. LeBron might need Wade to get that ring he promised Cleveland, there is no offseason anymore.-TO

The Rams hope that running back Todd Gurley can play right away. The contract he signs reflects a somewhat lower degree of optimism.

Per a source with knowledge of the deal, Gurley’s contract includes a commitment from the Rams to pay Gurley’s full salary in 2015 and 2016, if he lands on the non-football injury list in both seasons due to the knee injury that occurred while he was playing college football at Georgia.

The contract also gives the Rams a way out from under the final two years of the contract, if the team eventually determines that Gurley won’t be able to recover from the torn ACL. If the deal is terminated due to the pre-existing knee injury, the Rams are on the hook only for the 2015 and 2016 base salaries.

Otherwise, the base salaries for all four years of the contract are guaranteed. And he gets an $8.3 million signing bonus, which will only be subject to reimbursement if he chooses to retire (and if the Rams choose to collect any unearned amounts).

The contract does not offset language for the guaranteed money; the Rams typically remove offset language from their first-round rookie deals. But the guaranteed money for 2017 and 2018 can be avoided entirely if Gurley is cut due to the pre-existing knee injury.

So if he never is able to pass a physical with the Rams, he gets the signing bonus and the base salaries for 2015 and 2016. Once he passes a physical, the full contract is guaranteed, without offset.

Mueller, the mother of Murray’s daughter, made two major announcements with one Instagram post over the weekend. The marriage was one of them, but Mueller also revealed that she and Murray are expecting another child. Their daughter just turned 2.

Greg Oden is attempting an NBA comeback and working out for teams in hopes of securing a roster spot.

According to Real GM, Oden worked out for the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday and will work out in an upcoming Dallas Mavericks free agent minicamp. The Mavericks had strong interest in signing Odom when he returned to the league in 2013, but the former No. 1 overall pick chose to sign with the Miami Heat instead.

The good news is that Oden is attempting to get his life back on track. He spent much of the year training at Ohio State where he slimmed down and was looking good according to Buckeyes coach Thad Matta.

“Quite honestly, I haven’t seen Greg look this good since when he played for us back in the day at Ohio State,” Matta said in March. “His attitude is off the charts.”

Real GM also reported that the Grizzlies may have interest in Oden. The 27-year-old center has only played in 105 games since being drafted in 2007.

Nike released a new LeBron James ad over the weekend, and some will view it as a nice tribute to a Cleveland Cavaliers team that came up just short in the NBA Finals. Others will read it and think “excuses, excuses.”

The ad references the injuries to both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving and essentially labels it miraculous that the Cavs pushed the Golden State Warriors to six games.

Here’s the full text:

Imagine if Lebron came home to Cleveland.

Imagine if the team struggled early but finished the regular season strong.

Imagine if their big man went down, but they still found a way to power through the Eastern Conference.

Imagine if they faced the top seed in the Finals.

Imagine if they pushed Game 1 to overtime but lost another star to injury.

Imagine if everyone counted them out.

Imagine if they shocked the world and took the next two games.

Imagine if fatigue caught up with them, and they lost Games 4 and 5.

Imagine if they defied odds, logic and the basketball gods to come back and win the series in 7.

Confidential 6/08/15

Enjoy and remember if you have any stories that you can is confidential worthy email them to matt@680thefan.com

New HBO series uses NFL team names, logos without NFL consent

For the first time since Playmakers, a series based on the world of professional football will appear on TV. For the first time ever, a TV series will use the names of logos of NFL teams without the express written consent of the NFL.

PFT has gotten has advance look at Ballers, the new HBO series starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Debuting on June 21, the pilot episode of the weekly half-hour show begins with Johnson’s character laying in bed, having flashbacks to his career as a member of the Miami Dolphins, playing in a game against the Buffalo Bills. Both team uniforms are used, without alteration.

The first episode includes a scene from a conference room with a Packers logo on the wall. Later, one of the characters visits the fictional coach of the Miami Dolphins, who is wearing a hat with a Dolphins logo (the old logo, not the current one). The second episode includes multiple scenes at a Dolphins offseason practice, with the players wearing helmets bearing the Dolphins logo (the current one, not the old one).

“HBO is always mindful of other intellectual property owners, but in this context there is no legal requirement to obtain their consent,” an HBO spokesperson said in a statement issued to PFT on Sunday afternoon. HBO confirmed that the NFL has no involvement in the series.

The NFL initially declined comment, and then reiterated its position after being informed of HBO’s official comment.

Playmakers was based on the fictional pro football team known as the Cougars. Even though Playmakers used no NFL team names or logos, ESPN dumped the show under direct pressure from the NFL, given concerns regarding the manner in which the show depicted professional football players. The first episode of Ballers focuses in part on an NFL player who has sex in the bathroom of a nightclub with a woman he had just met, and who then beats up a fan who confronts the player about keeping the bathroom occupied for an extended period of time.

Even if HBO is within its legal rights to use NFL team names and logo (past films like Any Given Sunday and The Replacements surely would have liked to use real team names and logos, and presumably didn’t due to legal concerns), HBO has a separate business relationship with the NFL, through the annual Hard Knocks series. So for the same reason the NFL squeezed ESPN more than a decade ago, the NFL could squeeze HBO now.

Since the NFL currently has no comment, it’s hard to know what the league will (or won’t) do about the situation. But the first two episodes of Ballers definitely have a Playmakersvibe to them, and it’ll be interesting to see how the show will be received by the NFL, the NFL Players Association, and individual NFL teams.

An increasingly unflattering portrait of American soccer star Hope Solo emerges in newly publicized details of the evening the 33-year-old goalkeeper was arrested on domestic violence charges in June 2014.

According to a police report detailing the incident, which was obtained by ESPN and published Sunday, Solo showed clear signs of intoxication, and was belligerent towards the officers who were called to investigate the incident with her then-17-year-old nephew.

"I addressed her as Mrs. Solo and was corrected as she informed me her name was now Mrs. Stevens," the police report noted. "Mrs. Stevens showed signs of being intoxicated. Her eyes were bloodshot, speech was slurred, lack of good coordination, and the smell of intoxicants coming from her breath were present."

Solo "repeatedly insulted" several officers during the night, per the report. When asked to remove her necklace by one officer, she told him the necklace "was worth more than he makes in a year." When placed back in handcuffs to be transported to a different jail after processing by the officer who filed the report, Solo told the officer that the reason for the handcuffs what that he was "scared" of her.

At one point Solo yelled to an officer, "You know that if the handcuffs were off I'd kick your ass," according to the report.

The charges against Solo were ultimately dropped by a judge in January.

Tony Romo’s Fantasy Event in Vegas Called Off After NFL Complains

A fantasy football-themed event in Las Vegas headlined by Tony Romo was called off after the NFL reiterated a policy banning appearances associated with casinos, the Associated Press reports.

A league spokesman said Saturday the NFL “reminded the players association” of the policy with the National Fantasy Football Convention event scheduled for next month.

Romo, who recently joined Twitter, wrote that the league canceled the event. The Dallas quarterback said he was “sad for the fans and players.”

In a statement on the event’s website, organizers said the cancellation was “a direct result of sudden and unexpected opposition taken by the NFL concerning player participation and their perceived association with gambling for an event in Las Vegas.” They said they were rescheduling for next summer in Los Angeles.

Philadelphia running back DeMarco Murray, Romo’s former teammate, and Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant were among the stars expected to attend, with autograph sessions and other fantasy-related events planned.

Bryant was critical of the NFL on Twitter, writing “don’t understand whenever they make … money off of us.”

In a March news release announcing the event, organizers said it would be held at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. It was supposed to be July 10-12.

Rihanna's cheering for LeBron forced Warriors owner to change seats

Have you ever sat next to someone on an airplane or at the movie theater or even at a sporting event and got so fed up by their actions that you had to switch seats? This was the predicament Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob found himself in during Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Lacob wanted to witness his team up close and personal so he had a courtside seat to take in all of the action. Also sitting courtside right next to him was Rihanna. While this could've been yet another perk of sitting courtside, Lacob grew so disgusted with Rihanna's constant cheering for LeBron James and the Cavs that he had to switch seats with his fiancee.

According to Lacob, Rihanna just wouldn't quiet down despite his best efforts to inform her that he was the owner of the Warriors and that he moved his kids to different seats so she could sit there.

"I want to clarify something. I did not give her the seats. Everyone is talking about this on radio today as I was driving around the city going to different meetings. She bought seats, paid a lot of money for them and she can root for whoever she wants, right? But I thought I would be a nice guy and took my two kids, who go to a lot of games and booted them down to the end of the court and moved her next to me. I said hey sit next to the owner, it is a nice thing to do. I thought I was being friendly. She was rooting for LeBron the whole game so finally I was getting irritated and I said hey I'm the owner of the Warriors. She didn't care, she just kept going. So finally I said that's it and I moved a couple seats down. Everyone has it that I moved my fiancee next to her because she got upset that I was sitting next to Rihanna which is not true."

Glory Johnson is straight, not a lesbian

Was the marriage between Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson doomed from the start? While most can agree that getting married a few weeks after a domestic violence incident is a terrible idea, there were some other serious warning signs about the whole relationship in general.

For starters, Johnson, a two-time all-star with the Tulsa Shock, is straight, not a lesbian, and even Griner knew that. Griner even thought to herself that pursuing Johnson, who is straight, could end up being a bad idea.

“Plus, Glory is straight,” Ms. Griner said. “That was another reason why I thought this could end really bad.”

“I’m not a lesbian,” Ms. Johnson said. “But Brittney is different.

“I still don’t really feel like I’m attracted to females in general. It’s just that I’m attracted to just one person.”

Johnson told The Times that she was attracted to Griner because the Phoenix Mercury star understood her and supported her while showing her love.

“It was weird, but it was so comfortable it didn’t feel like it was wrong,” Ms. Johnson told The Times. “But I didn’t know how I was going to tell my family and my friends.”

She eventually told her family, and they understood the relationship after seeing the two together.

In the article, they even talk about the couple having children, which they say they planned to have happen sooner rather than later. Griner wanted a bigger family than Johnson, but it was agreed upon that Johnson would be the one to get pregnant. Now, less than a month later, Johnson is pregnant and Griner has filed for an annulment under grounds of fraud. She also seemed to question Johnson’s pregnancy, making us wonder how Johnson became pregnant.

A vehicle registered to Brandon Spikes was found abandoned on a highway in Foxboro Sunday morning around the same time an alleged hit-and-run accident was reported in the same area, according to police.

Police say an OnStar navigation operator notified state police around3:20 a.m. Sunday that the driver of a 2011 Mercedes Maybach told them he hit a deer. Troopers responding to the call found the vehicle abandoned near the center median along I-495. They also found damage to the front of the vehicle and no signs of a deer.

Around the same time that the OnStar operator called police, a family reported being hit by a car from behind. The family could not see who hit them. All three people were taken to the hospital for examination and treatment.

“The investigation will seek to determine whether there is any connection between the reported incidents,” State police spokesman David Procopio said via The Boston Herald. “No connection has yet been definitively established.”

Someone’s getting charged with something, but Massachusetts cops don’t know who it will be just yet.

According to Jeremy Gottlieb and Braden Campbell of Boston.com, state troopers have “reached out” to Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes after a vehicle registered to him was found abandoned after a report it hit a deer, in an area where no deer was found but a Nissan that had been hit by another car was.

Rays starter Chris Archer racked up double-digits in strikeouts and issued no walks for a third consecutive start, helping the Rays fend off the Mariners 3-1 on Sunday. It’s the first time in the modern era that a pitcher has put together three straight starts in which he’s struck out at least 10 and walked none, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The Confidential

Enjoy and remember if you have any stories that you can is confidential worthy email them to matt@680thefan.com

New HBO series uses NFL team names, logos without NFL consent

For the first time since Playmakers, a series based on the world of professional football will appear on TV. For the first time ever, a TV series will use the names of logos of NFL teams without the express written consent of the NFL.

PFT has gotten has advance look at Ballers, the new HBO series starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Debuting on June 21, the pilot episode of the weekly half-hour show begins with Johnson’s character laying in bed, having flashbacks to his career as a member of the Miami Dolphins, playing in a game against the Buffalo Bills. Both team uniforms are used, without alteration.

The first episode includes a scene from a conference room with a Packers logo on the wall. Later, one of the characters visits the fictional coach of the Miami Dolphins, who is wearing a hat with a Dolphins logo (the old logo, not the current one). The second episode includes multiple scenes at a Dolphins offseason practice, with the players wearing helmets bearing the Dolphins logo (the current one, not the old one).

“HBO is always mindful of other intellectual property owners, but in this context there is no legal requirement to obtain their consent,” an HBO spokesperson said in a statement issued to PFT on Sunday afternoon. HBO confirmed that the NFL has no involvement in the series.

The NFL initially declined comment, and then reiterated its position after being informed of HBO’s official comment.

Playmakers was based on the fictional pro football team known as the Cougars. Even though Playmakers used no NFL team names or logos, ESPN dumped the show under direct pressure from the NFL, given concerns regarding the manner in which the show depicted professional football players. The first episode of Ballers focuses in part on an NFL player who has sex in the bathroom of a nightclub with a woman he had just met, and who then beats up a fan who confronts the player about keeping the bathroom occupied for an extended period of time.

Even if HBO is within its legal rights to use NFL team names and logo (past films like Any Given Sunday and The Replacements surely would have liked to use real team names and logos, and presumably didn’t due to legal concerns), HBO has a separate business relationship with the NFL, through the annual Hard Knocks series. So for the same reason the NFL squeezed ESPN more than a decade ago, the NFL could squeeze HBO now.

Since the NFL currently has no comment, it’s hard to know what the league will (or won’t) do about the situation. But the first two episodes of Ballers definitely have a Playmakersvibe to them, and it’ll be interesting to see how the show will be received by the NFL, the NFL Players Association, and individual NFL teams.

An increasingly unflattering portrait of American soccer star Hope Solo emerges in newly publicized details of the evening the 33-year-old goalkeeper was arrested on domestic violence charges in June 2014.

According to a police report detailing the incident, which was obtained by ESPN and published Sunday, Solo showed clear signs of intoxication, and was belligerent towards the officers who were called to investigate the incident with her then-17-year-old nephew.

"I addressed her as Mrs. Solo and was corrected as she informed me her name was now Mrs. Stevens," the police report noted. "Mrs. Stevens showed signs of being intoxicated. Her eyes were bloodshot, speech was slurred, lack of good coordination, and the smell of intoxicants coming from her breath were present."

Solo "repeatedly insulted" several officers during the night, per the report. When asked to remove her necklace by one officer, she told him the necklace "was worth more than he makes in a year." When placed back in handcuffs to be transported to a different jail after processing by the officer who filed the report, Solo told the officer that the reason for the handcuffs what that he was "scared" of her.

At one point Solo yelled to an officer, "You know that if the handcuffs were off I'd kick your ass," according to the report.

The charges against Solo were ultimately dropped by a judge in January.

Tony Romo’s Fantasy Event in Vegas Called Off After NFL Complains

A fantasy football-themed event in Las Vegas headlined by Tony Romo was called off after the NFL reiterated a policy banning appearances associated with casinos, the Associated Press reports.

A league spokesman said Saturday the NFL “reminded the players association” of the policy with the National Fantasy Football Convention event scheduled for next month.

Romo, who recently joined Twitter, wrote that the league canceled the event. The Dallas quarterback said he was “sad for the fans and players.”

In a statement on the event’s website, organizers said the cancellation was “a direct result of sudden and unexpected opposition taken by the NFL concerning player participation and their perceived association with gambling for an event in Las Vegas.” They said they were rescheduling for next summer in Los Angeles.

Philadelphia running back DeMarco Murray, Romo’s former teammate, and Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant were among the stars expected to attend, with autograph sessions and other fantasy-related events planned.

Bryant was critical of the NFL on Twitter, writing “don’t understand whenever they make … money off of us.”

In a March news release announcing the event, organizers said it would be held at the Venetian Resort Hotel Casino. It was supposed to be July 10-12.

Rihanna's cheering for LeBron forced Warriors owner to change seats

Have you ever sat next to someone on an airplane or at the movie theater or even at a sporting event and got so fed up by their actions that you had to switch seats? This was the predicament Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob found himself in during Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Lacob wanted to witness his team up close and personal so he had a courtside seat to take in all of the action. Also sitting courtside right next to him was Rihanna. While this could've been yet another perk of sitting courtside, Lacob grew so disgusted with Rihanna's constant cheering for LeBron James and the Cavs that he had to switch seats with his fiancee.

According to Lacob, Rihanna just wouldn't quiet down despite his best efforts to inform her that he was the owner of the Warriors and that he moved his kids to different seats so she could sit there.

"I want to clarify something. I did not give her the seats. Everyone is talking about this on radio today as I was driving around the city going to different meetings. She bought seats, paid a lot of money for them and she can root for whoever she wants, right? But I thought I would be a nice guy and took my two kids, who go to a lot of games and booted them down to the end of the court and moved her next to me. I said hey sit next to the owner, it is a nice thing to do. I thought I was being friendly. She was rooting for LeBron the whole game so finally I was getting irritated and I said hey I'm the owner of the Warriors. She didn't care, she just kept going. So finally I said that's it and I moved a couple seats down. Everyone has it that I moved my fiancee next to her because she got upset that I was sitting next to Rihanna which is not true."

Glory Johnson is straight, not a lesbian

Was the marriage between Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson doomed from the start? While most can agree that getting married a few weeks after a domestic violence incident is a terrible idea, there were some other serious warning signs about the whole relationship in general.

For starters, Johnson, a two-time all-star with the Tulsa Shock, is straight, not a lesbian, and even Griner knew that. Griner even thought to herself that pursuing Johnson, who is straight, could end up being a bad idea.

“Plus, Glory is straight,” Ms. Griner said. “That was another reason why I thought this could end really bad.”

“I’m not a lesbian,” Ms. Johnson said. “But Brittney is different.

“I still don’t really feel like I’m attracted to females in general. It’s just that I’m attracted to just one person.”

Johnson told The Times that she was attracted to Griner because the Phoenix Mercury star understood her and supported her while showing her love.

“It was weird, but it was so comfortable it didn’t feel like it was wrong,” Ms. Johnson told The Times. “But I didn’t know how I was going to tell my family and my friends.”

She eventually told her family, and they understood the relationship after seeing the two together.

In the article, they even talk about the couple having children, which they say they planned to have happen sooner rather than later. Griner wanted a bigger family than Johnson, but it was agreed upon that Johnson would be the one to get pregnant. Now, less than a month later, Johnson is pregnant and Griner has filed for an annulment under grounds of fraud. She also seemed to question Johnson’s pregnancy, making us wonder how Johnson became pregnant.

A vehicle registered to Brandon Spikes was found abandoned on a highway in Foxboro Sunday morning around the same time an alleged hit-and-run accident was reported in the same area, according to police.

Police say an OnStar navigation operator notified state police around3:20 a.m. Sunday that the driver of a 2011 Mercedes Maybach told them he hit a deer. Troopers responding to the call found the vehicle abandoned near the center median along I-495. They also found damage to the front of the vehicle and no signs of a deer.

Around the same time that the OnStar operator called police, a family reported being hit by a car from behind. The family could not see who hit them. All three people were taken to the hospital for examination and treatment.

“The investigation will seek to determine whether there is any connection between the reported incidents,” State police spokesman David Procopio said via The Boston Herald. “No connection has yet been definitively established.”

Someone’s getting charged with something, but Massachusetts cops don’t know who it will be just yet.

According to Jeremy Gottlieb and Braden Campbell of Boston.com, state troopers have “reached out” to Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes after a vehicle registered to him was found abandoned after a report it hit a deer, in an area where no deer was found but a Nissan that had been hit by another car was.

Rays starter Chris Archer racked up double-digits in strikeouts and issued no walks for a third consecutive start, helping the Rays fend off the Mariners 3-1 on Sunday. It’s the first time in the modern era that a pitcher has put together three straight starts in which he’s struck out at least 10 and walked none, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Confidential 5/26/15

May 26, 2015 -- 9:48am

An early look at today's confidential. Enjoy.

Falcons may be without Beasley, Reed to start OTAs

The Falcons, intent on rebuilding the league’s worst defense this offseason, may be without two of their major acquisitions when they open their organized team activities – non-contact practices — on Tuesday.

Outside linebacker Vic Beasley, the eighth overall pick in the NFL draft, has yet to sign with the team. Outside linebacker Brooks Reed, who received the largest free agent contract from the team, has a minor groin strain that could slow him down.

Beasley and the Falcons have hit an impasse. The team was hopeful that he’d be signed shortly after the rookie minicamp earlier in May. All six of the other draft picks have signed their contracts.

“There is no reason why they shouldn’t be done,” said Joel Corry, CBS Sports’ NFL business analyst. “There is nothing to negotiate, particularly at the high end.”

“I don’t know why it wouldn’t be done,” said Corry, a former agent and Emory graduate. “The litmus test is going to be if Jacksonville tries to use Fowler’s injury to their advantage. Then, I don’t think you’ll ever see another first-round pick come into minicamp unsigned if that happens.”

Ray McDonald Released by Bears: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

The Chicago Bears released defensive lineman Ray McDonald on Monday after the 30-year-old was arrested on charges of misdemeanor domestic violence and child endangerment.

McDonald signed with Chicago in late March as a free agent on a one-year contract, which came with the strict stipulation that he avoid any additional issues away from the gridiron. McDonald's release will save the Bears $1,037,500, per Over the Cap.

It was a risky move by Pace and Co. just to bring McDonald in. And before he even played a down for the Bears, the defensive lineman lost the opportunity to reward the team for taking a chance on him.

Based on McDonald's checkered past, it's unlikely he'll get another chance to play in the NFL. He'd already accumulated several strikes before this latest misstep and had the benefit of familiarity with Chicago defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who coached him in San Francisco.

Pace has done well to build up the Bears defense in his first year as GM, so the organization should be more concerned about the backlash from signing McDonald in the first place than any other ramifications his abrupt departure has from a personnel standpoint.

Seahawks fans looking to raise $5 million for Russell Wilson

Seahawks fans aim to raise $5 million to pay Russell Wilson

A Seattle Seahawks fan launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $5 million to help the team pay Russell Wilson on top of his potential new contract.

Seattle Seahawks fans love Russell Wilson so much that they have devised a new way to give their hard-earned money to the team, so they can make the quarterback the highest-paid player in the NFL.

We used to approach pro football odds posts with the tack of “Gee whiz, can you believe those wacky oddsmakers are accepting bets on (insert topic here)?”

Well, let’s cut it out. The surprise now is if something isn’t available to bet. We know it and you know it.

With this in mind, we check in to inform you that an online sports book is offering odds on a wide range of matchups — and we mean wide — for Super Bowl 50.

Sportsbook.ag has installed a Seahawks-Colts NFL title game as the favorite at 15-1, with Seahawks-Patriots and Colts-Packers next at 18-1. Packers-Patriots is 20-1, with Seahawks-Broncos 22-1.

What are the longest-priced Super Bowl 50 matchups? Glad you asked. Here they are:

Bears-Titans: 3,000-1.

Washington-Oakland: 3,000-1.

Buccaneers-Jaguars: 3,300-1.

Washington-Jaguars: 4,000-1.

Buccaneers-Titans: 5,000-1.

Washington-Titans: 6,000-1.

Sports books rarely offer odds in quadruple digits, which would suggest there isn’t a lot of fear about any of the real long shot matchups cashing. Nevertheless, it’s interesting to see them on the board, right there for the gamblers, the dreamers and the diehards to take their shots.

2 B.B. King daughters allege 2 closest aides poisoned him

Two B.B. King heirs who've been most outspoken about the blues legend's final days are accusing King's two closest aides of poisoning him.

Daughters Karen Williams and Patty King allege in documents provided by their lawyer to The Associated Press that King's business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, killed their father.

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said Monday that an autopsy was performed Sunday on King's embalmed body, and test results will take up to eight weeks.

Unhappy with the National Football League's Deflategate discipline, New England Patriots fan and bar owner Chuck Horne has found a way to support Tom Brady after the league suspended the Patriots quarterback.

Twitter user @matthewawyman tweeted at ESPN.com's Darren Rovellon Sunday night to reveal a drink that recently debuted at the Eagle Brook Saloon, Horne's Massachusetts bar that is just miles away from Gillette Stadium. The drink: Free Brady Blonde IPA.

That drink has to be a hit with Patriots fans.

Some may think that spending $6.75 on a drink is outrageous, but there is good reason for the high price tag. The Eagle Brook Saloon pledges that $1 from each drink sold will be donated to a charity on Brady's behalf. According to Rovell, the bar has sold more than 500 of the drinks in just six days.

Buying the Free Brady Blonde IPA will in no way make NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell rethink the four-game suspension that he handed Brady. Patriots fans, however, have turned a bad situation into something good. While protesting the suspension, they are raising money for local charities.

GA teacher accused of allowing student sex in classroom

A Georgia teacher is now out of a job and facing charges after being accused of allowing students to have sex in his classroom's closet.

A parent says she has proof the sexual escapades took place with the teacher's knowledge.

Tom Regan talked to the outraged mother.

"I was in a state of disbelief when I read all these messages," the anonymous parent said.

The mother said she looked her 14-year-old son's phone and discovered a shocking exchange of text messages last Thursday between him and Quinton Wright, a math teacher and coach at Champion Theme Middle School in Stone Mountain.

"Basically he's allowing the students to have sex in a storage room in his classroom," the parent said.

She read a couple of the texts she says were exchanged between the teacher and her son.

"He told my son you can have it from seven thirty to like eight thirty. Did you tell the girl what' s going to happen, that she cannot tell anybody, basically don't tell anyone I'm allowing you to use my room."

The mother said the teacher also sent her son a calendar showing the teachers' schedules. A revealing text that showed the student did not have condoms was also exchanged.

"It's very sickening and disheartening, because we trust administrators and educators when we drop our kids off at school."

The mother pulled her eighth grader from school Friday and contacted the principal and police to file a complaint.

The DeKalb School System removed the 25-year-old teacher from the classroom. The student's mother told me she was suspicious of him from earlier behavior.

"He called me when the kids had their eighth grade prom and asked if he could come over and take pictures with the boys before the prom, and I said no."

A judge issued an arrest warrant for the teacher, Wright, on Monday. There's no word yet on what specific charges Wright will face.